Living With Your Landlord
Tenants who share accommodation with their landlord have different rights to those who rent a separate property.
To be classed as a resident landlord, your landlord must;
- use the property as their only or main home (if your landlord only stays in the property occasionally and has another home elsewhere, they probably won't count as a resident landlord); and
- have direct access from their accommodation to yours (for example, a landlord living in a separate flat in the same building as you won't count as a resident landlord; a landlord who has separate rooms in the same house as you will count)
Your landlord does not have to own the property - you could also sub-let a room from another tenant who lives in the property, in which case the tenant will become your resident landlord.
If you share your accommodation with your landlord but have exclusive use of some parts, you are likely to have a common-law tenancy. Exclusive possession means that only you are entitled to use certain parts of the property and your landlord cannot enter those parts without permission.
Common-law tenants don't have as many rights as assured tenants but this doesn't mean that your landlord can walk all over you. Detailed information about the rights of common-law tenants is available from Shelter Scotland.
